Case report: PET/CT, a cautionary tale

Abstract

Background: The use of combined positron emission tomography/ computerised tomography (PET/CT) scanners in oncology has been shown to improve the staging of tumours and the detection of relapses. However, mis-registration errors are increasingly recognised to be a common pitfall of PET/CT studies. Case Presentation: We report a patient with a germ cell tumour of the testis, who underwent a PET/CT scan to detect the site of relapse with a view to surgical removal. However, the PET/CT scan mislocalised the tumour site to be within the T2 vertebral body. A subsequent endoscopic ultrasound scan however showed the tumour to be anterior to the vertebral body, which was confirmed at surgery. Conclusion: In this report, we highlight the artefactual mislocalisation errors which may occur with PET/CT imaging, and the need to review and verify these scans. © 2007 Wang et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.